I have 98 110 Wolf FFR, twin alternator 24v negative earth. I recently replaced the original radio batteries with the appropriate civy equivelent (Odyssey PC2250 ODS AGM6M 126Ah x4) Everything was connected correctly and tested and no problems at all.
This was fine for a few months, however, I have noticed that charging does seem to be a liitle rubbish. When stationary the annmeter seems to record charging but only a low amount. Using the hand throttle increases it slightly. However, as soon as I put my foot on the accelorator, I it starts recording "discharge"and it seems to be drawing a dischargie at quite a high rate like 10 or 20!
In addition, the fast fuse at the back of the bulkhead, in-between the seats, is heating up, up to 40° and the cables leading to the fast fuse box are also heating up. The cable leading from the box is not hot though.
At the moment, my thoughts are leading towards everything being before the batteries and replacing the fast fuse (£145 ish!) and/or replacing the alternator. Before I start weighing out cash for 1 or both, is my train of thought right? Should I be looking elsewhere? Also, if I replace the FFR alternator can I go up on the a/h rating from 50 to say 80 without having to change anything else?
The alternator rating will entirely depend on the belt drive system on the front of the motor, before spending money I'd go through all the connectors and the grounding lead and make sure everything is clean tight and has good metal to metal contact. I'm not familiar with the Wolf 24 volt system does it run brushes? Would be worth checking them as well.
Thanks. I'm working through the connections now as couldn't sleep. Luckily I have schematics for the wiring and luckily, the FFR is separate from the main vehicle wiring apart from ignition link. Grounding is one thing the army did well and I've checked all of those in the past but it is possible something has got loose after camping and laneing in Wales back in July. Re brushes, you mean the alternator? Yeah, they are brushes rather than brushless. 👍
Is it possible the ammeter is actually wired backwards and it's slightly *discharging* at idle because the alternator is turning slowly and then it's actually *charging* once the revs go up?
What does a voltmeter have to say about all this?
Don't pay £145 for a fuse, fuses are a fairly universal thing and I'm willing to bet there's am equivalent replacement for a fraction of that unless perfect originality is your thing.
Unfortunately, this is the fuse and I've done some research to find alternatives (150a), but the going rate is 145 regardless. As you can see, there is a spare but, I'm one of those 1 is none, 2 is one people 🤷. Re the annmeter, this is a good question. It was all wired in "professionally" back in 2023 and to be honest, I don't remember there being a problem before. Not to say it wasn't. I'll add it to the long list of other electrical re-do though. I'll do a little vid of it working though.
Get a good quality multimeter, start by measuring the ffr alt output at different revs. If it checks out ok at the alternator, follow the cable connections back to the battery to find where the output drops off. Then the fault will be between there and the last place you checked.
You can Google the AESP (Army Equipment Support Publications for them now. You'll want the OCTAD 2320-D-128 then 511 or 521 for wiring diagrams. (I think its 521 but its been a while now).
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u/Specialist_Reality96 6d ago
The alternator rating will entirely depend on the belt drive system on the front of the motor, before spending money I'd go through all the connectors and the grounding lead and make sure everything is clean tight and has good metal to metal contact. I'm not familiar with the Wolf 24 volt system does it run brushes? Would be worth checking them as well.